NCAA – Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
Women’s NCAA college basketball exploded and March Madness is more popular than ever thanks to these ballerific women.
On Sunday, the tournament officially ended with the South Carolina Gamecocks beating the Iowa Hawkeyes under Coach Dawn Staley’s leadership.
Staley and her Gamecocks secured an 87-75 win over the Hawkeyes and the impassioned coach, who’s now the first Black woman coach to win 3 NCAA titles, gave a riveting speech.
Source: Thien-An Truong/ISI Photos / Getty
“We serve an unbelievable God,” Staley said about her team that finished the season undefeated. “This is the unlikeliest group to do it. And sometimes, I mean, God is funny like that. He’s funny. He rips your heart out, and He makes you believe. He makes you believe the unimaginable.”
“This is uncommon favor,” she added.
2024’s March Madness Was All About The Women
This season’s March Madness has been different than the rest and for once, we’ve seen sports fans talking more about the women’s tournament over the men’s. Heading into the match-up between Iowa and LSU all the chatter was about Caitlin Clark. Clark delivered and lived up to the hype but it wasn’t enough to get past the Angel Reese-led LSU Tigers.
By the end of the game, two near stars were born into the mainstream media; Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson.
The game set a ratings record for a women’s college basketball game with a peak of 12.6 million viewers and an average of 9.9 million according to Yard Barker. This year’s March Madness was all about the women’s tournament and all the ladies shined.
In case you’re wondering who to follow now that March Madness is over, let’s recap the superstar athletes you should get familiar with.
Standout Women From The 2024 Women’s March Madness Tournament
Angel Reese
Angel Reese transferred from Maryland and became the Bayou Barbie and nothing was the same. She helped push LSU over Iowa in 2023 to win the National Title and made it back to the Elite 8 this year. Most recently she announced her bid for the WNBA Draft in a Vogue spread highlighting the new era of women’s professional basketball.
Audi Cooks
Iowa State’s Audi Cooks put up 40 points in the March Madness tournament as a freshman which is a generational type of performance that doesn’t even sound real. Once she gets going, no team can stop her in the paint leaving her team to never sweat being down at the half. She now has the name of comeback queen and will be a pleasure to watch next season.
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark came up short in the 2024 March Madness Championship game but she heads to the WNBA with several records under he belt. She’s the all-time women’s NCAA Division I scorer, passed Lynette Woodard for the major college scoring record, and most career points in Division I for me and women. You’ve heard her name if you pay any attention to basketball.
Paige Bueckers
Paige Bueckers tore her ACL in 2022 and was sidelined for a long period but before her injury was the most talked about player in NCAAW basketball. In her absence, several other ladies built a name but Paige is still what many would call the top dog. In her return, she led UCONN right back to the Final Four like she never left. Her game is out of this world on offense and defense, plus she puts fear in her opponent’s hearts.
JuJu Watkins
JuJu Watkins is the bridge and joy of USC and is by all means a real shooter. It’s one thing she’s going to do faithfully, shoot the ball even if she’s having an off night. When you check the box score you’ll be shocked how many times she went for a basket but trust she got the win. As a freshman, she broke the record for most points in a game with 51, most 30-point games, and most Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors with 14. The best part is she broke the freshman scoring record according to Sports Illustrated.